Generating pools of video blood, sweat and tears it’s Shawn Knight of Child Bite. Knight sits down to talk music, business and more as he opens our eyes and ears to the wild life of Child Bite.
Tag Archives: Rock
Unlocking The Truth: Controlling Chaos
It’s a warm Wednesday afternoon. Fifteen year-old Malcolm Brickhouse skates one of New York City’s East Village streets. His fellow bandmates Alec Atkins, 15 and Jarad Dawkins, 14; strut behind the sound of trucks on pavement and Brickhouse’s leather trenchcoat covering his DGK skateboard, giving him a floating appearance. People are quick to notice as Japanese freelance photographers begin shooting the boys being themselves on a Summer afternoon.
The attention and aura the kids give off is interesting. Passerby don’t seem to worry about it, being used to all sorts of things that bustle through the bowery; but they do glance here and there (and they should) as these are no ordinary Brooklyn high-schoolers.
Brickhouse, Atkins and Dawkins are Unlocking The Truth – a young heavy metal band who only a year ago had gotten out of a monumental deal with Sony and have been slowly but surely taking the world by force after being discovered by Eric Clapton’s drummer Steve Jordan during a 2012 Washington Square Park performance. Tonight marks the first of several intimate release shows for their debut album “Chaos” (available now from iTunes, Spotify and other online retailers via Tunecore) at The Studio of the one and only Webster Hall.
The boys are clam, cool, collected and hungry. They’re more concerned about what to order from the Chinese food menu than how many friends, family and fans will come to see them. They’ve already mastered the art of crowd control by playing to tens of thousands at Coachella, Vans Warped Tour and one-off gigs with the likes of Metallica, Guns ‘N’ Roses and Marilyn Manson (who the boys find extremely funny; had the most beneficial backstage advice for them, offering life lessons, business tips and visited them regularly instead of the usual “don’t do drugs” cliche’).
“He was much more open with us,” Dawkins said. “He would come in our dressing room here and there and talk about what he went through and what we should watch out for in this business. He’s really funny.”
Backstage, the young rockers hang out in the empty venue, messing around on their phones and jokingly teasing one another as teenagers do. Tired of sitting, Brickhouse busts out the 8.5” DGK (his other weapon of choice due to the artwork and company vibe) and skates around the venue to scope the place out for a minute before event staff inform him it’s not permitted to be on a board inside. While he doesn’t remember what got him into the action sport initially, skating calms his nerves. His favorite pro is none other than the multi-champion son of a comic Paul “P-Rod” Rodriguez, who is known for pulling off flawless contest runs and has one heck of an inward heelflip; Brickhouses’ favorite trick. The opening band’s sound check starts up and the guitarist heads back to the dressing room to rejoin his friends before they take the stage.
The openers are decent – a cross between Alice In Chains, Nirvana and the Stone Temple Pilots. No one remembers their name, but they do well and show a good amount of energy and charisma. The fans in attendance are not for them, but for the boys. Family and friends are catching up and piling in until the set comes to an end. Annette Jackson, Brickhouses’ mother and Unlocking The Truth’s co-manager stands in the back and hustles the boys merchandise – a bevy of T-shirts, stickers and posters to the adoring public. A strong but tiny fireball, Jackson is a Supermom in every sense of the word.
“It feels good supporting our son Malcolm and his goals of becoming one to the best bands and a music producer,” she says. “It’s very expensive, very time consuming and a thankless job, but we always say our prayers and thank the good Lord for blessing him and to never let us take our blessings for granted.”
One piece of “Truth gear” is noticeably absent, however. There are no physical copies of “Chaos” present as Jackson doesn’t want to risk an individual leaking the album two days before its release. The boys have worked too long and too hard to let someone else let the cat out of the bag.
When the Brooklyn metal band signed a whopping $1.8 million, five album deal with Sony in 2014, things changed immediately (because of their ages, they had to get the Supreme Court’s approval to ink the contract). At the request of producers, the band decided vocals would be essential to their then-instrumental arsenal. There were talks of auditions with various singers, but they never surfaced when Brickhouse stepped up to the plate shortly after the decision was made. After taking lessons to this day from Melissa Cross, a vocal teacher for major label artists better known for her “Zen of Screaming” DVDs; Brickhouse now performs double-duty on guitar and vocals simultaneously.
“Someone has to sing. You can’t be a big band and not have a singer,” he said . “We were thinking of getting a girl singer, but it just didn’t happen. We even tried him (Atkins), but it didn’t work out, so I just said “I’ll sing.”
In addition to the new sound, a plethora of publicity, commercial spots and dream gig offers knocked on the boys proverbial doors. In the blink of an eye, they’d made it to the big leagues well before graduation. While they were still treated the same by their peers, the rest of the world was another story. Everything was happening all at once for the trio and the instant fame was more than they could handle at the time. After an intense legal battle, Unlocking The Truth would be released from their contract with Sony roughly a year after their initial signing.
“A lot of it was between our parents and laywers. It wasn’t the contract that made us leave. It was the pressure of dealing with fame. It was just a thing of too much too fast. I miss it now, but we’re trying to get it back at our own pace,” Brickhouse says.
During the Sony days, a six song EP (titled “Free As You Wanna Be”) was recorded by Disturbed producer John “Johnny K” Karkazis that eventually got scrapped after things didn’t work out. This would be a blessing (and omen) in disguise as Karkazis would be a necessary contact the boys needed to make when they would record “Chaos” with him over the course of a week.
“We were in a rush, but it worked,” Dawkins said. “He (Karkazis) is very fun to work with, a very good guy. He has over 20 years of experience, he’s wonderful at what he does and he’s passionate.”
The house lights fade to black and Unlocking The Truth take the stage to a screaming horde of Truth Seekers commissioned by the Metal Gods. For the next 45 minutes, the lads initiate phase one of their plan for world domination. It’s their night and everything goes down like an ice cold beer after a hard day’s night. Brickhouse and the gang come out of their offstage shells alive with songs like “Monster,” “Take Control” and the album’s title track, “Chaos.” Brickhouse sweeps away on various ESP guitars– an endorsement he’s absolutely ecstatic about while Atkins and Dawkins lay down the heavy semi-latin grooves that make for a strong musical core. They call for mosh pits – which on any other evening would already be in full swing, but with the amount of family and friends in their Sunday best (despite the actual day of the week) the demand goes mostly unheeded. A sign of respect for the maturing monsters of rock.
After a wildly energetic performance, the boys take the time to thank everyone in attendance for their support, tell jokes, goof around and even bring close friends onstage. The crowd roars their approval – the loudest being Brickhouse’s devoted father Tracey, who travels with the band and never misses a gig. As the house lights come back on, the boys celebrate their achievements with their adoring public.
“Our son is giving everything he has to reach his goals and make his dreams come true,” said Jackson.
As Unlocking The Truth take their leave, the joy in their eyes tells the whole story. Three rockers from Brooklyn with a vision who’s shared identity is not just a name – but a manifesto.
“I plan on doing this my entire life,” Brickhouse says. “It’s what I love. I can’t picture myself outside of making music. I don’t like school and I can’t have an office job.”
Bonesaw Podcast – Episode 35: Jess-O-Lantern
The Melvins Wreck the Music Hall Of Williamsburg
When my friend Doug and I saw that The Melvins were coming to NY with a stacked bill including Napalm Death and Melt Banana, there was no way we wouldn’t be seeing this.
As a grunge head, Doug felt he needed to see The Melvins at least once and they were always a band I was curious about. The only date that was convenient for us was Saturday, April 15th in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, also known as the hipster capital of America.
Doug used this as the opportunity to overcome his fear of city driving. As we ventured through New York City’s lower east side slumps and narrow streets we finally got to “The ‘Burg.” Getting there was a weird experience as the area looked very run down and ghetto, yet artsy at the same time. Instead of scary looking people walking around it was mostly all hipsters and punks. We even found a supermarket that was 90 percent vegan and organic food. At 8:00 P.M. we walked into the venue and waited for the first band.
Melt Banana
The big opener was Japanese noise rock titans Melt Banana. I’ve seen them once before at Maryland DeathFest and while it was wacky there they somehow manged to make this set even wackier.
They started their set with wierd video game sounds being played on both the vocalists phone and the guitarist’s guitar. After this they transitioned to their grind and pop influenced noise rock.
Throughout the majority of their set the vocalist would move her arms up and down like a robot while flashing green and red lights on her white shirt. This all helped the bands signature sound of lazer beam guitar riffs and chirping vocals feel even wilder. Mid-set the band did a medley of about six of their shorter songs in one. This included “Dog Song” that was mostly clean vocals with a barking chorus (yes, a barking chorus). After what felt like an amazing drug trip it was time for The Melvins.
Melvins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp5r9qwqpPc
At around 10:00 P.M. the duo of Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover got on stage with guest bassist Steve McDonald of the Los Angeles, Calif. alternative rock band Redd Kross.
They started out with The Melvins’ classics “Eyes Fly” and “Queen.” After these two songs the set list was mostly a mixture of later numbers like “Sesame Street Meat” and covers including the grunge classic “Leech” by Green River, “Halo of Flies” by Alice Cooper (which they closed with) and a song from Redd Kross which McDonald got on vocals for.
The band had a very loud and heavy live sound which fit perfectly with their slower droning tracks. While it was a very long set, it wasn’t boring for a minute as these guys are born performers.
After their set, Doug and his brother decided to leave. We wanted to see Napalm Death but we also didn’t want to be home so late plus we had all already seen them before (I’ve seen them twice and Doug’s seen them once). As we drove back, we instantly wanted to find an excuse to return to the city. Chelsea Wolfe is playing next month and director John Carpenter will be performing his iconic film soundtracks live in July so hopefully my return will be sooner than later.
A Labor of L’Amour: DJ Alex Kayne On His Upcoming Book & Bensonhurst In Its Heavy Metal Heyday
Often hailed by its following as “The Rock Capital of Brooklyn,” L’Amour was a staple of hard rock/heavy metal acts of the 1980s and 1990s.
Some of the genres most legendary bands (such as the “big four” of Thrash Metal: Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax) got their break in the tiny club that oftentimes felt like an arena. Memories, bonds, and acts of debauchery occurred on a nightly basis in the Bensonhurst venue. The club’s promoters were also notoriously fair when it came to booking, giving any band a chance to play on Brooklyn’s biggest stage – which made it so prominent for keeping the scene alive and a staple for establishing the developing New York Hardcore scene in the early 90’s.
L’Amour first opened as a disco club on a rather desolate stretch of 63rd Street in 1978 and transformed into a rock venue in 1981. Over the next two decades, its popularity skyrocketed and three somewhat short-lived sister locations were spawned in Queens, Long Island, and Staten Island. Throughout the 1990s and into the early aughts the original club would remain active before finally closing its doors in 2004. Usually at the helm of the Bensonhurst club, was DJ Alex Kayne, who is widely considered New York’s first-ever heavy metal DJ.
To read the full story on Bensonhurst Bean, click here.
Life of Agony to Release First Album in Over a Decade
After 11 long years of sporadic live appearances, Brooklyn’s Life of Agony is back with a vengeance and plans on releasing a new album this year on a new label.
The former Roadrunner hardcore/alternative metal group’s new album will be titled “A Place Where There’s No More Pain” and will be available on Napalm Records.
“I think our fans know that our music comes from a very real place of suffering, from all of us in the band,” bassist and comic book writer Alan Robert said in a press release. “Many of our fans have told us over the years that sharing our personal struggles has been cathartic for them in healing the pain in their own lives. That uplifting energy we share at the shows, gives us hope that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. And for us and hopefully our fans, that short time when we’re all together is a place where there’s no more pain.”
Shortly after the band announced the good news on their official website last month, they proceeded to go on a short string of German tour dates.
Life of Agony also has three England shows scheduled in March for the “Agony in the U.K” dubbed mini tour.
“Life Of Agony is without a doubt one of the most exciting and energetic Rock bands of our times. It is an honor to work with such talent, we are excited to announce their signing to Napalm Records and release the band’s first album after over a decade,” said Thomas Caser, CEO of Napalm Records.
Shortly after their formation in 1989, Life of Agony landed a deal with Roadrunner Records and released four albums. Their highly acclaimed 1993 debut, “River Runs Red” (which they performed in its entirety in 2010) is their best-selling album and has been reissued several times through several different labels. Also released under Roadrunner were 1995’s “Ugly” and 1997’s “Soul Searching Sun.” Life of Agony’s last album, “Broken Valley” was released by Epic Records in 2005.
David Bowie – Icon
By William Kennedy
Legendary space oddity David Bowie died Sunday in Manhattan, NY after an 18 month battle with cancer.
Bowie was a global icon that contributed to music and fashion so much over the course of his 50-year career that his look, sound and theatrics became synonymous with pop culture. During his career, Bowie constantly redesigned his image and sound through the creation of several characters, most notably “Ziggy Stardust,” “Aladdin Sane” and “The Thin White Duke.” Bowie’s life was one of wild experimentation whether it was drugs, booze, musical genres or sexuality and was also unapologetically original (something that embodies the essence of the human spirit while still being such an alien concept to most).
“Space Oddity” was one of his earliest hits and was a fitting phrase to describe him as cosmic grace and originality made him seem like a visitor from another world. Bowie’s influence is something difficult to quantify as he inspired countless artists over his five decade career including Madonna, Lady Gaga, Marilyn Manson, Steven Wilson, The Killers and Radiohead (just to name a few).
Born David Jones in Brixton, London, England on January 8th 1947, the singer changed his name in the 60’s to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of The Monkees. In his lifetime, Bowie released 26 studio albums that ranged from pop, rock and alternative to new wave with electronic, funk and soul flairs.
Bowie had numerous collaborations with other artists throughout his career, working with The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger for the single “Dancing in the Street,” Queen’s Freddie Mercury for “Under Pressure,” John Lennon for “Fame” and Trent Reznor for a remix of “I’m afraid of Americans.” Bowie performed at the 1985 “Live Aid” concert to raise funds for an ongoing Ethiopian famine. In 1987, he performed in a divided Berlin where his track “Heroes” became an anthem for the tensions during the cold war. A lyrical selection from heroes is as follows:
“I can remember (I remember)
Standing, by the wall (by the wall)
And the guns, shot above our heads (over our heads)
And we kissed, as though nothing could fall (nothing could fall)
And the shame, was on the other side
Oh we can beat them, forever and ever
Then we could be heroes, just for one day”
When asked about the performance Bowie claimed, “It was one of the most emotional performances I’ve ever done. I was in tears.”
Shortly after, Bowie met Somali fashion supermodel Iman. They wed in 1992 and had their only child, Alexandria Zahra Jones in 2000. Both Bowie and Iman had children from previous marriages.
Bowie also pursued an acting career, appearing in such films as “The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976),” “Labyrinth (1986)” and “Basquiat (1996).” His music has appeared in countless movies and television shows to this day, some of which he had written for (such as a 2015 episode of “Mad Men,” in which he also performed).
Bowie was diagnosed with cancer of the liver in 2014. He released his final studio album “Blackstar” in 2016 on his 69th birthday. Two days later, the man known as “Ziggy Stardust” went to his cosmic paradise for the last time. Bowie is survived by his second wife, Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid, and children Duncan, and Alexandria Jones.
Lemmy: The Man, The Myth, The Legend
One of Rock’s mightiest Gods has returned home.
Motörhead’s brash frontman Ian Fraser “Lemmy” Kilmister died unexpectedly Monday, just two days after being diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer.
“We cannot begin to express our shock and sadness, there aren’t words,” surviving band members (Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee) said in their official Facebook post that confirmed the news.
Born on Christmas Day 1945, the legendary growler began his music career playing in local bands like “The Rockin’ Vicars” and doing odd jobs as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix, a gig Lemmy spoke fondly of in many interviews.
Soon after, Lemmy would join Hawkwind, a psychadelic rock outfit that dabbled in space, time and frequent drug use. Lemmy would record four albums (“Doremi Fasol Latido,” “Space Ritual,” “Hall of the Mountain Grill” and “Warrior on the Edge of Time”) with Hawkwind until being fired upon being arrested for drug possession crossing the Canadian boarder.
The firing would turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Lemmy.
Taking the name from a Hawkwind song, our hero would forge a legacy in 1975 with Motörhead. While the band was originally called “Bastard,” no major marketing or promotion would touch a band with that name at the time. The original name would take a back seat until 1993 when Motörhead would release “Bastards,” their 11th studio album.
22 Studio albums later, Motörhead would become a household name, leaving a trail of lineup changes, debauchery and bleeding eardrums in their wake. They would rise to superstardom with 1980’s “Ace of Spades” and ride off into the sunset with 2015’s “Bad Magic.”
During his long music career, Lemmy would lend his voice and talents to a number of artists, most famously writing the Ozzy Osbourne hit “Mama I’m Coming Home” off of 1991’s “No More Tears.” Later he would lend his voice to game developer Double Fine’s heavy metal video game “Brutal Legend” as “The Killmaster,” a sorcerer who aids you in your quest. He would also exclusively use Marshall amplifiers and Rickenbacker basses to not only compliment his playing but to generate his pick-heavy, aggressive sound.
Lemmy was infamously known (and often criticized by the media) for collecting World War II Nazi memorabilia. In his 2004 autobiography “White Line Fever” (and a plethora of interviews) he said, “I’ve had three black girlfriends, so I’m the worst racist you ever saw.”
Brash, bold and always on, Lemmy was beloved by all. Whether you were a fan of his or not, you respected him and supported his ultimate quest for the riff. The 2010 documentary “Lemmy” gives us an intimate look as his life on and off the road.
A great number of Lemmy’s peers in the industry as well as saddened fans gave their condolences via social media.
Living by the mantra “born to lose, live to win,” Lemmy was the embodiment of rebellion and he carried it with him for his entire life, sticking to his guns until the end. His dedicated fanbase hanging on his every word, adorning their bodies with tattoos of Motörhead artwork, lyrics, and of the man himself. The man built a reputation on being as bad-ass as his music and his legacy will live on.
Bonesaw Podcast – Episode 23: JC Autobody’s Jonathan Newby
We get down with Jonathan Newby to chat about his one man/jam Experimental Blues Rock project JC Autobody. We get into Horror, the Indiana Scene, JC Autobody’s newest release “Witches” and more.
For more cool content, check out Bonesawzine.com.
Nuclear Assault at the Gramercy Theater – 9/12/15
Thrash legends Nuclear Assault have embarked on their final tour (dubbed as the “Final Assault” tour) which will commence with a one-off appearance at next year’s Maryland Death Fest where they will finally hang it up for good.
Last Saturday, the band played an awesome show to a packed hometown crowd with friends Murphy’s Law and Whiplash at New York City’s Gramercy Theater; which I was fortunate enough to have attended.
I had taken the day off from work for a local show in my area when the date of that show got moved. I figured I’d tag along with my friend Jay to go to this awesome looking show instead. We took the train to New York City, got slices of dollar pizza, then took the subway and walked to the Gramercy Theater. Once inside, I ran into some buddies of mine and we caught up until the show started.
Whiplash
Up first were thrash legends Whiplash. I was not too familiar with them outside of their 1986 debut “Power and Pain,” but my friends were excited to see them. The band was fucking killer. They had incredible incredible energy and sounded great.
Murphy’s Law
Next up was the hardcore punk band Murphy’s Law. While I am a big fan of 80’s hardcore, this band was never one I could get into. The band played a very long set and had a lot of energy. After watching them for a few minutes, I went down to the lower part of the venue to look at merch. Jay and I would then meet Tony Potaro, the vocalist and guitarist for Whiplash and get a picture.
Nuclear Assault
After Murphy’s Law finished it was time for Nuclear Assault.
I had seen them once four years ago at MDF 2011. While this fest had other greats like Voivod, Ghost, Acid Witch, Nunslaughter,and Exhumed; Nuclear Assault owned – and here they were no different. The band delivered classics such as “Brainwashed,” ”Hang the Pope” and “Critical Mass.”
Bassist Danny Liker is a legend. I’m also a fan of his other bands Brutal Truth, S.O.D and his time in Anthrax. S.O.D is scheduled to play the Black and Blue Bowl in Brooklyn next year and I will make sure I go.
The Bonesaw 